Why Consider Elgin Choral Union Concert Sponsorship?
Target Population
The target Elgin Choral Union ticket population is Elgin and Fox Valley residents, particularly senior citizens with limited incomes, and families who would enjoy bringing their children to a performance of music they would not see elsewhere. The Elgin Choral Union is committed to bringing great choral music to a wide audience and to maintaining ticket prices low enough to make this wonderful experience available to all. We offer discounts to students and senior citizens, and provide an additional discount to groups of 10 or more, in an effort to increase the number of people who might not otherwise be able to attend. In an attempt to attract more families, the ECU Board of Directors launched a special discounted ticket price of $5 for children under 10, with an adult admission during the 2007-2008 season which continues today.
How ECU Addresses The Needs Of Our Community
In fulfillment of our mission, ECU benefits the citizens of Fox Valley in five primary ways:
- Presents a spectacular live choral music performance for over 100 voices unmatched by any other Fox Valley chorus.
- Provide a creative outlet for the many individuals of Elgin and the nearby communities who share a passion for singing.
- Creates a unique opportunity to perform a rarely performed work, exposing audiences of area residents to music they might not otherwise be able to hear.
- Offers a choral concert of an artistically high caliber that draws patrons from communities surrounding the Fox Valley.
- Provides senior citizen residents and families of Elgin and the surrounding area with an inexpensive opportunity to enjoy fine choral music that is performed live with a full symphony orchestra in a geographically central area in the Fox Valley.
Adults Who Sing Are Remarkably Good Citizens
A few of the findings for adult singers from The 2009 Chorus America Chorus Impact Study include:
- Choral participation remains strong in America with 32.5 million adults regularly singing in at least one of 270,000 choruses nationwide—far more participate in choruses than any other performing art.
- Choral singers exhibit higher levels of civic involvement, with choristers almost 3 times more likely to be officers or committee members of local community organizations such as the PTA.
- Seventy-eight percent of choral singers indicated they "at least sometimes" volunteer their time in their community, while only 50% of the general public say the same.
- Seventy-four percent of choral singers agree or strongly agree that singing in a chorus has helped them become better team leaders or team participants in other areas of their lives; nearly two-thirds agree or strongly agree that being in a chorus has helped them socialize better in other areas of their lives.
- Choral singers donate 2.5 times more money to philanthropic organizations than the general public.
- Ninety-six percent of choral singers surveyed who are eligible voters said they vote regularly in national and local elections; only 70% of the general public cites the same level of participation.
Civic engagement also extends to patronage of other art forms, with choral singers at least 2 times more likely to attend theater, opera, and orchestra performances as well as visit museums and art galleries.